Attack of the Herobrine

"Ten bucks says there's a secret button in there that gives you creative mode in real life," Maya said, staring up at the Mojang office.

Eli shook his head. "That's not how buttons work."

"You don't know that. This is Mojang."

Alex pointed toward the building. "Maybe you press it and some guy runs outside and starts punching a tree."

Maya pointed excitedly at Alex. "See? Alex gets it."

"I regret coming here with either of you," Eli said.

"You've been saying that the entire trip."

"And every minute I become more correct."

The three friends laughed as they continued down the sidewalk.

Visiting Mojang had been Maya's idea. There wasn't an event happening or some major Minecraft announcement. They had simply been traveling nearby, and Maya had insisted that being this close to the place where Minecraft was made without visiting it would be a crime against gaming.

So now they were standing outside an office building taking pictures as though they had discovered an ancient temple.

Maya raised both hands toward the building.

"O mighty Mojang!"

Eli groaned. "Please don't."

"Bless our diamonds!"

"Maya."

"Protect our crops!"

"Maya."

"And forgive Eli for building with birch!"

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BIRCH!"

Alex burst out laughing.

"Sounds like something a birch user would say."

"I hate both of you."

Maya put an arm around Eli.

"You love us."

"Unfortunately."

They continued walking.

"So what now?" Eli asked.

"Food?" Alex suggested.

"Finally, someone has a good idea."

Maya suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

Eli sighed. "What now?"

"What's that?"

Near the edge of the pavement was a book.

Maya's eyes widened.

"We found it."

"Found what?" Alex asked.

"The sacred texts."

Eli stared at her.

"It's garbage."

"Garbage doesn't usually come in book form."

"It absolutely does."

Alex picked it up.

The notebook was surprisingly heavy. Its dark cover was worn around the edges, but there was no title or name anywhere on it.

Maya leaned closer.

"Open it."

Eli frowned. "Or we could bring it inside. It probably belongs to someone."

"I'm checking for a name," Alex said.

"Sure."

Alex opened it.

The first page was filled with handwriting.

The jokes stopped.

Numbers.

Coordinates.

Commands.

Technical notes.

Even references to different versions of Minecraft.

Maya leaned over Alex's shoulder.

"Wait. That's actually Minecraft stuff."

Alex turned another page.

There were diagrams.

Another contained what appeared to be an unfinished map.

Some sections had been crossed out.

Others were covered completely in black ink.

Eli's expression changed.

"Okay. This actually might belong to someone at Mojang."

"We'll return it," Maya said.

"After reading the entire thing?"

"After responsibly determining its owner."

"That's called snooping."

"Responsible snooping."

Alex turned another page.

Then stopped.

"Guys."

Maya looked over.

"What?"

Alex turned the notebook toward them.

Across the page was an enormous sequence of characters.

Letters.

Numbers.

Symbols.

Line after line.

Above them was a single handwritten word.

SEED

Eli squinted.

"That's supposed to be a Minecraft seed?"

"I guess," Alex said.

"Why is it so long?"

Maya grinned. "Developer secret."

"Or someone fell asleep on their keyboard."

Alex started counting.

"One, two, three..."

Eli stared.

"Seriously?"

Maya joined in.

"...twenty-three, twenty-four..."

"I could be eating right now."

Eventually they reached the end.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine..."

Alex tapped the final character.

"One hundred."

Maya blinked.

"Exactly?"

"Exactly."

Even Eli looked interested now.

"Okay. That's weird."

Below the seed was more writing.

Or there had been.

Someone had deliberately covered it with thick black ink.

Maya tilted the notebook toward the sunlight.

"Can we see through that?"

Alex changed the angle.

A fragment became visible.

...access...

Then another.

...player...

And farther down:

...never...

Maya's grin disappeared.

"That's a little creepy."

"Excellent," Eli said. "Common sense has entered the chat."

Alex continued examining the page.

"There's something near the binding."

Tiny letters had been written vertically where the page disappeared into the spine.

Maya held the notebook open farther.

Alex read the words aloud.

"Do not generate."

Silence.

Maya looked at Alex.

Alex looked at Maya.

Both smiled.

Eli immediately stepped between them.

"No."

Maya laughed. "Nobody said anything."

"You didn't have to!"

"It's just a Minecraft seed," Alex said.

"It's a Minecraft seed with DO NOT GENERATE written beside it."

"Which makes me want to know what it generates."

"No! It tells you exactly what you're supposed to do with it!"

Maya pulled out her phone.

"Only one way to find out."

Eli grabbed her wrist.

"Absolutely not."

Alex laughed and pulled out a phone instead.

Eli's eyes widened.

"Alex."

Click.

The seed was saved.

Maya burst out laughing.

"Nice."

"You two are impossible."

"It's a Minecraft world, Eli."

"It's a mysterious Minecraft world someone specifically doesn't want you entering."

"Exactly."

"That doesn't make it better!"

Alex closed the notebook.

"Come on. We'll return it."

"Finally."

The three walked toward Mojang's entrance.

Maya began theorizing that the seed might generate an unfinished biome.

Alex thought it could be a developer testing world.

Eli maintained that whatever it was, the words DO NOT GENERATE provided fairly clear instructions.

They were still arguing when the office doors opened.

A Mojang employee stepped outside.

He noticed the notebook.

And froze.

"Where did you get that?"

The laughter stopped.

Alex held it up.

"It was lying over there."

The employee approached quickly.

"You opened it?"

"Yeah."

"How much did you read?"

Maya shrugged.

"Not much."

His expression grew increasingly worried.

"Did you see a seed?"

The three friends looked at one another.

Eli slowly closed his eyes.

Alex answered.

"Yes."

The employee went pale.

"Did any of you generate it?"

"No."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

His shoulders relaxed.

"Good."

He took the notebook.

Alex frowned.

"What does it generate?"

"Nothing."

Maya laughed.

"That's definitely not true."

"It was part of an old development project."

"Then why does it say not to generate it?" Alex asked.

The employee didn't answer.

Eli noticed.

"So there actually is something wrong with it."

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

Again, no answer.

Instead, the employee asked another question.

"Did anyone photograph the seed?"

Silence.

Eli looked at Alex.

Maya looked at Alex.

The employee followed their eyes.

"Delete it."

Alex frowned.

"Why?"

"Please."

Something in the employee's voice made Maya stop smiling.

Alex pulled out the phone.

The photograph was still there.

One hundred characters.

"Seriously," the employee said. "Delete it."

Alex deleted the photograph.

"Done."

"Recently deleted too."

Eli looked at Alex.

"Just do it."

Alex permanently erased the picture.

"It's gone."

The employee looked at Maya.

"I didn't take one."

Then Eli.

"I was actively trying to prevent all of this."

The employee nodded.

"Good."

He turned toward the entrance.

Alex called after him.

"Wait."

The employee stopped.

"What does that seed generate?"

For a moment, it looked as though he might answer.

Instead, he tightened his grip on the notebook.

"Some worlds were never meant for players."

Then he disappeared inside.

The doors closed behind him.

For several seconds, the three friends simply stood there.

Maya finally broke the silence.

"Well."

Eli pointed at her.

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"I know exactly what you're thinking."

Alex stared at the doors.

"That wasn't an old test world."

"No kidding," Maya said.

Eli started walking.

"Doesn't matter. The picture's deleted. Let's go eat."

Maya followed.

"You're seriously not curious?"

"I'm incredibly curious. I'm also capable of not investigating every ominous thing I encounter."

Alex followed behind them.

"Probably smart."

"Thank you."

Eli and Maya continued arguing as they walked away.

Neither noticed Alex reach into a pocket.

There was a folded piece of paper inside.

Before approaching the Mojang office, Alex had copied the sequence by hand.

All one hundred characters.

---

That evening, Maya and Eli were at Alex's house.

The mysterious notebook had become the running joke of the night.

Maya sat beside Alex's computer eating chips while Eli sprawled across the bed.

"So," Maya said, "what do you think it actually was?"

"A test world," Alex said.

"Still thinking that?"

"Maybe."

Eli looked up from his phone.

"It was nothing."

"The employee looked terrified."

"He looked annoyed because three idiots were reading company documents off the sidewalk."

"Three?" Maya asked.

"Two idiots and one innocent bystander."

Alex laughed.

"Sure."

Maya glanced toward the computer.

"So you really deleted it?"

"Yep."

"Shame."

"Good," Eli said.

Alex smiled.

Then reached into a pocket.

A folded piece of paper landed on the desk.

Maya stared at it.

"No way."

Eli sat upright.

"Alex."

Maya unfolded it.

Her mouth dropped open.

"You copied it?!"

"Every character."

Eli got off the bed.

"You told that guy it was gone!"

"The picture is gone."

"That is the most technically truthful lie I've ever heard."

Maya was already moving toward the computer.

"Let's do it."

"No!"

Alex opened Minecraft.

Eli stared at both of them.

"You saw his face!"

"Which is exactly why I want to know what this is," Alex said.

"Maybe there's something they don't want released yet."

Maya grinned.

"Secret update."

"Or an abandoned dimension."

"Or some developer-only world."

Eli rubbed his forehead.

"Or nothing, because that guy specifically told us not to do this."

The Minecraft menu appeared.

Alex selected:

Singleplayer.

Then:

Create New World.

Maya began reading the characters.

Alex typed.

One by one.

All one hundred.

Eli stood behind them.

"This is a terrible idea."

"Probably," Maya said.

"Then stop!"

Alex entered the final character.

The three stared at the screen.

Nothing happened.

Maya frowned.

"Well, that's disappointing."

Alex clicked:

Create New World.

The screen changed.

Generating World...

Eli crossed his arms.

"Congratulations. You found grass."

1%

"Maybe it'll be purple grass," Maya said.

12%

"Thrilling."

37%

Then the lights flickered.

Maya looked up.

"Did your power just..."

The lights returned.

"Probably."

52%

The computer fans suddenly accelerated.

Alex frowned.

"That's weird."

71%

The screen flickered.

For a fraction of a second, the loading screen disappeared.

Something else replaced it.

A dark room.

A figure.

Then Minecraft returned.

Alex leaned forward.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" Eli asked.

Maya had seen it too.

"Rewind it."

"It's not a video."

83%

The lights flickered again.

This time they didn't come back.

The room fell dark.

Only the monitor remained illuminated.

Eli pulled out his phone.

"No signal."

"What?"

"I don't have service."

Maya checked hers.

"Neither do I."

Alex reached for the keyboard.

"Okay. Maybe we should close it."

Eli laughed nervously.

"Wow. Fantastic timing."

Alex pressed Escape.

Nothing.

Alt-F4.

Nothing.

The mouse stopped responding.

94%

Alex reached for the computer's power button.

Nothing happened.

"Why won't it shut off?"

97%

Maya stepped away from the desk.

"Alex..."

The room felt colder.

Their breath became visible.

98%

A low rumble came from the computer.

Not the speakers.

The computer itself.

99%

Eli grabbed the power cord.

"I'm unplugging it."

He yanked it from the wall.

The monitor stayed on.

Nobody spoke.

Eli slowly looked at Alex.

"That's impossible."

100%

The screen went black.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then words appeared.

Not Minecraft's normal font.

Not any menu they recognized.

Just white letters against darkness.

WORLD FOUND

Another line appeared.

ACCESS ACCEPTED

Maya stepped backward.

"What does that mean?"

A third line appeared.

THREE PLAYERS DETECTED

Eli's face went pale.

"How does it know there are three of us?"

Alex didn't answer.

The monitor began glowing brighter.

Too bright.

The light spread beyond the screen.

Across the desk.

Across the walls.

Across their bodies.

Maya raised an arm to shield her eyes.

"Alex!"

The room shook.

Eli grabbed Maya.

Alex tried to move away from the computer.

None of them could.

Something was pulling them forward.

Not wind.

Not gravity.

Something else.

Alex grabbed the desk.

Maya screamed.

Eli wrapped an arm around the bedpost.

The monitor filled their entire vision.

For one impossible moment, Alex could see through it.

Not pixels.

Not a screen.

A world.

Stone.

Trees.

A dark sky.

And walls.

Endless walls.

"TURN IT OFF!" Eli screamed.

"I CAN'T!"

The desk slid across the floor.

Alex lost grip first.

A hand struck the monitor.

And disappeared through it.

Alex screamed.

Maya grabbed Alex's other arm.

That only pulled her closer.

Eli grabbed Maya.

For one second, all three held onto one another.

Then the room vanished.

---

Silence.

Alex opened their eyes.

Everything hurt.

The ground beneath them was grass.

Perfectly square patches of grass.

Alex slowly lifted a hand.

A blocky hand.

"No..."

Maya groaned nearby.

"Alex?"

She sat up.

Then stared at herself.

Her scream echoed across the landscape.

Eli awakened last.

He looked at his hands.

Then Maya.

Then Alex.

Then the enormous stone walls surrounding them.

None of them spoke.

Far above, square clouds moved across a pixelated sky.

Maya finally whispered:

"We're..."

Eli finished the sentence.

"...in Minecraft."

Somewhere impossibly far away, beyond the walls of the maze, something became aware of them.

Something that had waited a very long time for exactly this.

And back in the real world, Alex's bedroom was empty.

The computer remained unplugged.

The monitor remained on.

One final message appeared.

EXTERNAL CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.